Take time to bask in solar eclipse

Kansas won’t see a total solar eclipse on Monday, but we’ll get pretty close here in our home on the range.

The Topeka Capital-Journal’s Tim Hrenchir reports at the peak of that afternoon’s eclipse — which will reach totality in states that include nearby Oklahoma and Missouri — people in Topeka will see 87.2% of the sun obscured. Those in Wichita will see 87.7% of an eclipse and those in Kansas City, Missouri, will see it obscured 87.2%.

We have a tool on our website that can help you see the conditions of the eclipse in your area. Be sure to check it out.

We know that plenty of Kansans might consider visiting our neighbors in Oklahoma and Missouri to get a view of the eclipse inside the path of totality. We hope your travels outside the Sunflower State are safe and enjoyable. Please be mindful that highways will be crowded with many other spectators.

We want you to return safely and we want to hear about your experience.

The Capital-Journal’s Stacey Saldanha-Olson reports there are plenty of opportunities for Kansans to view the eclipse — even if not in full totality. Among them include Papan’s Landing Senior Center, 619 N.W. Paramore St., in Topeka; the marching band tarmac west of the Dole Institute at the University of Kansas in Lawrence; and the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan; are each hosting events.

Remember if you choose to watch the solar eclipse, use approved solar viewing glasses (also known as “eclipse glasses”) or a handheld solar viewer. Regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, aren’t safe for viewing the eclipse, NASA says.

The Monday solar eclipse will be the first in the U.S. since 2017 and the last until 2044 when only North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana will see the total eclipse.

We know the science behind the eclipse. We know when it’ll happen and when the next one will be.

Yet somehow it’s still a strangely mystifying experience. It shows us how small in the world we are. How big our universe actually is and how beautiful and amazing as well.

We hope everyone takes time to appreciate this rare moment.

Go outside and look skyward — with proper glasses of course. We won’t get another for two decades.

In the stillness of the eclipse, ponder things big and small. Think about how your actions can impact others. Are you radiating light or casting a shadow?

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has filed a lawsuit against the federal government to block student loan forgiveness, leading a multistate coalition against the policy.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of the 2023 case led by Missouri where the Supreme Court struck down the federal government’s previous student loan forgiveness plans.

It’s clear that Kobach is leading this charge at least partly because he’s likely to be successful. In the 2023 case, the conservative majority Supreme Court demonstrated a willingness to grant standing to states suing the federal government for harms state agencies could face if student loans were forgiven.

The lawsuit challenges the legality of the federal government’s newest attempt to forgive student loans for some borrowers called the SAVE Plan. It only applies to borrowers who took out less than $12,000 and have been making consistent payments for more than 10 years.

Not only is it questionable if Kansas has the legal standing for the lawsuit — the burden of proof is on the coalition of states to prove that individual states will be financially harmed by the forgiveness program — but blocking student loan forgiveness would also deny 1,200 Kansans financial relief, according to the federal government.

Millennials stand to benefit most from the student loan forgiveness program. According to TransUnion, Millennials hold 43% of all student loan debt as of 2023.

Millennials are those who came of age around the year 2000, typically born between 1981 and 1996, and are currently between 43 and 28 years old.

The Kansas Speaks public opinion survey, fielded every fall by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University, gives us some insight into the attitudes of Kansas Millennials on economic and life-prospects in the state.

Older Millennials had the worst rating of the Kansas